Disk pick-and-place device and operation method thereof

ABSTRACT

A disc pick-and-place device for picking and clamping multiple discs and unloading the multiple discs is provided. The disc pick-and-place device includes a supporting body, multiple picking members and a driver. The picking members are disposed around a support body and flexibly abut the edges of the discs. Each picking member includes a flexible rod, a first carrying portion and a second carrying portion. The first carrying portion and the second carrying portion are located on the flexible rod and separated by an interval. The first carrying portion and the second carrying portion partly overlap with each other in an axial direction of the flexible rod. The driver is for driving each flexible rod to rotate and move each first carrying portion and each second carrying portion to a disc releasing position or a disc holding position.

This application claims the benefits of U.S. provisional applicationSer. No. 62/562,549, filed Sep. 25, 2017 and People's Republic of Chinaapplication Serial No. 201711083853.6, filed Nov. 7, 2017, the subjectmatters of which are incorporated herein by reference.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Field of the Invention

The invention relates in general to a pick-and-place device, and moreparticularly to a disc pick-and-place device and an operating methodthereof.

Description of the Related Art

The disc database, which uses discs as a data storage medium, normallyincludes multiple drives, a disc library for placing multiple discs, anda disc pick-and-place device. The disc pick-and-place device is forpicking up and unloading discs, and moving discs between the disclibrary and the drives. For example, the disc pick-and-place devicepicks up a disc from the disc library and then moves and unloads thedisc to the drive, or picks up a disc from the drive and then moves andunloads the disc to the disc library. To increase the disc handlingefficiency, the disc pick-and-place device may clamp multiple discs andthen move the multiple discs at one time. For example, the discpick-and-place device picks up multiple discs from the disc library andthen moves and unloads the multiple discs to their corresponding drivesrespectively. The disc pick-and-place device picks up discs fromrespective drives and then clamps the discs on the disc pick-and-placedevice. Then, the disc pick-and-place device unloads the clamped discsto the disc library.

Although the disc pick-and-place device may clamp multiple discs andthen move the multiple discs at one time, normally one drive can onlyaccess one single disc. Therefore, how to provide a disc pick-and-placedevice capable of unloading each of the clamped discs to itscorresponding drive has become a prominent task for people in thetechnology field of the invention.

Additionally, in order to determine the quantity of the discs clamped onthe disc pick-and-place device, the disc pick-and-place device normallyobtains a total height of the clamped discs according to thedisplacement of a probe, and then uses the total height of the clampeddiscs as a basis for determining the disc quantity of the clamped discs.According to the above determination method, a probe structure isdisposed on one side of the disc pick-and-place device, such that theprobe can lean on a surface of the clamped discs. However, the probedirectly contacts the disc surface, and therefore may easily scratch ordamage the disc.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The invention is directed to a disc pick-and-place device and anoperating method thereof for picking up and placing discs.

According to one embodiment of the present invention, a discpick-and-place device for picking and clamping multiple discs andunloading the multiple discs is provided. The disc pick-and-place deviceincludes a supporting body, multiple picking members and a driver. Thepicking members are disposed around a support body and flexibly abut theedges of the discs. Each picking member includes a flexible rod, a firstcarrying portion and a second carrying portion. The first carryingportion and the second carrying portion are located on the flexible rodand separated by an interval. The first carrying portion and the secondcarrying portion partly overlap with each other in an axial direction ofthe flexible rod. The driver is for driving each flexible rod to rotateand move each first carrying portion and each second carrying portion toa disc releasing position or a disc holding position.

According to another embodiment of the present invention, an operatingmethod of a disc pick-and-place device is provided. The discpick-and-place device includes multiple picking members flexiblyabutting the edges of multiple discs. Each picking member includes aflexible rod, a first carrying portion and a second carrying portion.The operating method includes following steps: when the discpick-and-place device intends to pick up discs, each flexible rod isdriven to rotate and make the disc pick-and-place device enter a firstoperating state in which each first carrying portion and each secondcarrying portion are located at the disc releasing positions; eachflexible rod is driven to rotate and make the disc pick-and-place deviceenter a second operating state in which the first carrying portion islocated at the disc holding position, and the second carrying portion islocated at the disc releasing position. When the disc pick-and-placedevice intends to unload a plurality of discs, each flexible rod isdriven to rotate and make the disc pick-and-place device enter a thirdoperating state in which both the first carrying portion and the secondcarrying portion are located at the disc holding positions; eachflexible rod is driven to rotate and make the disc pick-and-place deviceenter a fourth operating state in which the first carrying portion islocated at the disc releasing position, and the second carrying portionis located at the disc holding position.

According to an alternate embodiment of the present invention, a discpick-and-place device including a disc pick-and-place body and aquantity sensing unit is provided. The disc pick-and-place body is forclamping and unloading at least one disc. The quantity sensing unit isdisposed on the disc pick-and-place body for sensing the quantity of theat least one disc clamped on the disc pick-and-place body. The quantitysensing unit includes a movable piece and an optical distance measuringdevice. The movable piece leans on at least one disc and moves as thequantity of the at least one disc changes. The optical distancemeasuring device is for emitting a beam and receiving the beam reflectedfrom the movable piece to detect the quantity of the at least one disc.

According to another alternate embodiment of the present invention, anoperating method of a disc pick-and-place device is provided. The discpick-and-place device includes a disc pick-and-place body and a movablepiece. The disc pick-and-place body is for clamping and unloading atleast one disc. The movable piece leans on at least one disc and movesas the quantity of the at least one disc changes. The operating methodincludes: emitting a beam and receiving the beam reflected from themovable piece to detect the quantity of the at least one disc; anddetermining whether the quantity of the at least one disc clamped on thedisc pick-and-place body matches a correct disc quantity.

The above and other aspects of the invention will become betterunderstood with regard to the following detailed description of thepreferred but non-limiting embodiment(s). The following description ismade with reference to the accompanying drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIGS. 1A and 1B are perspective views of a disc pick-and-place deviceaccording to an embodiment of the invention.

FIGS. 1C and 1D are perspective view of a picking member and a flickingmember respectively according to an embodiment of the invention.

FIG. 2A is a schematic diagram of a disc pick-and-place device in afirst operating state and an enlarged view of the leaning portionbetween the disc pick-and-place device and the discs.

FIG. 2B is a schematic diagram of a disc pick-and-place device in asecond operating state and an enlarged view of the leaning portionbetween the disc pick-and-place device and the discs.

FIG. 2C is a schematic diagram of a disc pick-and-place device in athird operating state and an enlarged view of the leaning portionbetween the disc pick-and-place device and the discs.

FIG. 2D is a schematic diagram of a disc pick-and-place device in afourth operating state and an enlarged view of the leaning portionbetween the disc pick-and-place device and the discs.

FIGS. 3A and 3B are perspective views of a disc pick-and-place deviceaccording to another embodiment of the invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

Detailed descriptions of the invention are disclosed below with a numberof embodiments. However, the disclosed embodiments are for explanatoryand exemplary purposes only, not for limiting the scope of protection ofthe invention. Similar/identical designations are used to indicatesimilar/identical elements.

FIGS. 1A and 1B are perspective views of a disc pick-and-place device100 before picking up discs and after picking up discs respectivelyaccording to an embodiment of the invention. FIGS. 1C and 1D areperspective view of a picking member 120 and flicking member 150respectively according to an embodiment of the invention. FIGS. 2A-2Dare schematic diagrams of a disc pick-and-place device 100 in a firstoperating state, a second operating state, a third operating state, anda fourth operating state respectively and an enlarged view of theleaning portion between the disc pick-and-place device and the discs.

Refer to FIGS. 1A and 1B. The disc pick-and-place device 100 accordingto an embodiment of the invention is for picking up and clamping thediscs 10 and further unloading the discs 10 to multiple disc drives. Inthe present embodiment, the disc pick-and-place device 100 includes asupporting body 110, multiple picking members 120 and a driver 130. Thesupporting body 110 has a center column 112, which can be inserted intothe center hole 100 of multiple stacked discs 10. The multiple pickingmembers 120 can flexibly abut the edges 10S (the rims) of the discs, sothat the disc pick-and-place device 100 can perform a disc pickingoperation or a disc placing operation.

In the present embodiment, the picking members 120 are separatelydisposed on the supporting body 110 and flexibly abut the edges 10S ofthe discs 10 to form a positioning structure having at least threepositioning points. The distance from each picking member 120 to thecenter of the discs is approximately equivalent to the radius of thediscs 10, so that the picking members 120 can tightly abut the discs 10.Apart from clamping and unloading discs, the picking members 120 furtherprovide a flexible guiding effect to avoid the discs 10 wobbling ortilting when being placed.

Refer to FIGS. 1B and 10. Each picking member 120 includes a flexiblerod 121, a first carrying portion 122 and a second carrying portion 123.In the present embodiment, the flexible rod 121 can be a round rod orcan have other shape, and the invention is not limited thereto. Eachflexible rod 121 is parallel to and extended to the edges 10S of thediscs 10. The first carrying portion 122 and the second carrying portion123 are located on the flexible rod 121 and separated by an interval,and partly overlap in an axial direction (Z direction) of the flexiblerod 121. The interval is approximate 1-1.5 times of the thickness of adisc. The first carrying portion 122 and the second carrying portion 123can be formed in one piece with the flexible rod 121. Or, the firstcarrying portion 122 and the second carrying portion 123 can be disposedon the flexible rod 121 additionally.

Refer to FIG. 10. For the flexible rod 121 to provide sufficientflexibility, at least one first groove 124 (such as arced groove) and/orat least one second groove 125 (such as arced groove) are formed on thesurface of the flexible rod 121. The first groove 124 faces a firstdirection (such as the X direction), the second groove 125 faces asecond direction (such as the Y direction), and the first direction andthe second direction are not the same. For example, the first directionis orthogonal with or opposite to the second direction. The first groove124 is extended to a first plane, and the second groove 125 is extendedto a second plane. The first plane is substantially parallel to theforce receiving direction of the flexible rod 121. The first plane issubstantially parallel to and not coplanar with the second plane. Thefirst plane and the second plane are substantially parallel to or tiltat an angle to the radial direction of the flexible rod 121. Thus, whenthe flexible rod 121 clamps the discs 10, if the flexible rod 121 isaffected by the discs 10 and protrudes outwardly, the flexible rod 121will be flexibly bent through the first groove 124 and the second groove125, and will restore to the erected state when the external forcedisappears.

The first groove 124 and the second groove 125 can be formed byperforming a linear cutting process on the flexible rod 121. Theflexible rod 121 can be formed of metal or plastics. The flexible rod121 having been processed with the linear cutting process will bebendable and have better flexibility. However, the flexible rod 121 canalso generate sufficient flexibility through the features of itsmaterial or structure, and the invention does not have particularrestrictions thereto.

In an embodiment, the width of the first carrying portion 122 and thewidth of the second carrying portion 123 both are equivalent to orlarger than ¼ of the circumference of the flexible rod 121. The firstcarrying portion 122 includes a first part P1 and a second part P2, andthe second carrying portion 123 includes a third part P3 and a fourthpart P4. The second part P2 and the third part P3 are located betweenthe first part P1 and the fourth part P4 and overlap in the axialdirection of the flexible rod 121, and the first part P1 and the fourthpart P4 do not overlap in an axial direction of the flexible rod 121.For example, the first carrying portion 122 and the second carryingportion 123 overlap by ½ of the width, and do not overlap at theremaining width. However, the above values are for exemplary purposeonly, not for limiting the invention.

In the present embodiment, the disc pick-and-place device 100 uses adriver 130 to drive each flexible rod 121, and therefore enters a firstoperating state, a second operating state, a third operating state or afourth operating state, and make the first carrying portion 122 and thesecond carrying portion 123 move to a disc releasing position or a discholding position to complete the disc picking operation or the discplacing operation.

Refer to FIG. 1A. The driver 130 includes a motor 132, a center gear 134and multiple driven gears 136. The center gear 134 and the driven gears136 are disposed on the supporting body 110 and engaged with each other.The motor 132 drives the center gear 134 and the driven gears 136 torotate and make the disc pick-and-place device 100 switch among thefirst operating state, the second operating state, the third operatingstate and the fourth operating state. Apart from using geartransmission, the driver 130 can drive the picking members 120 and theflicking member 150 using belt transmission or multiple motors, and theinvention is not limited thereto.

Refer to FIGS. 1B and 1D. The disc pick-and-place device 100 furtherincludes a flicking member 150. The flicking member 150 includes aflexible rod 151, a wedge 152 and a carrying portion 153. In the presentembodiment, the flexible rod 151 is a round rod. However, the flexiblerod 151 can have other shapes, and the invention is not limited thereto.The flexible rod 151 is fixedly connected to and rotates along with oneof the driven gears 136. Like the first carrying portion 122, thecarrying portion 153 can move to a disc holding position or a discreleasing position. The driver 130 can concurrently drive the pickingmembers 120 and the flicking member 150 to rotate, such that when thedisc pick-and-place device 100 place a disc, the flicking member 150 canconcurrently flick the disc. Besides, like the picking member 120, theflicking member 150 can have the first groove 124 and/or the secondgroove 125 formed thereon to provide a flexible bending effect when thedisc pick-and-place device 100 clamps the discs 10.

Referring to FIGS. 2A-2D, schematic diagrams of an operating method of adisc pick-and-place device 100 are shown. Firstly, in FIG. 2A, multiplediscs 10 are placed on a carrying plate 20 of a disc library, and thediscs 10 include a first disc 11 and a second disc 12 counted in abottom up manner. When the disc pick-and-place device 100 intends topick up multiple discs 10, each flexible rod 121 is driven to rotate andmake the disc pick-and-place device 100 enter a first operating state.In the first operating state, the center column 112 is inserted into thecenter hole of the discs 10, and each picking member 120 flexibly abutsthe edges of the discs 10. Meanwhile, the first carrying portion 122 andthe second carrying portion 123 are located at a disc releasingposition. That is, the first carrying portion 122 and the secondcarrying portion 123 staggered with the edges 10S of the discs 10without overlapping so that the disc pick-and-place device 100 canprepare to perform the disc picking operation.

Then, in FIG. 2B, the driver 130 drives each picking member 120 torotate and make the disc pick-and-place device 100 enter a secondoperating state. In the second operating state, the first carryingportion 122 is located at the disc holding position, and the secondcarrying portion 123 is located at the disc releasing position. That is,the first part P1 of the first carrying portion 122 overlaps the edge ofthe first disc 11, and the second carrying portion 123 does not overlapthe edge of the first disc 11. Therefore, in the second operating state,the discs 10 can lean on the first carrying portion 122. Meanwhile, theposition of the first carrying portion 122 corresponds to the underneathof the first disc 11, so that the disc pick-and-place device 100 canclamp multiple discs 10. Then, the disc pick-and-place device 100 canmove the clamped discs 10 to a corresponding disc drive 21 and prepareto perform the disc placing operation.

In FIG. 2C, when the disc pick-and-place device 100 intends to unloadthe discs 10, the driver 130 drives each picking member 120 to rotateand make the disc pick-and-place device 100 enter a third operatingstate. In the third operating state, both the first carrying portion 122and the second carrying portion 123 are located at the disc holdingpositions. That is, the second part P2 of the first carrying portion 122corresponds to the edge of the first disc 11, and the third part P3 ofthe second carrying portion 123 corresponds to the edge of the seconddisc 12 and can be inserted into the space between the first disc 11 andthe second disc 12 (as indicated in FIG. 2C) or directly abut the edgeof the second disc 12 to hold the second disc 12. When the secondcarrying portion 123 directly abuts the second disc 12, the secondcarrying portion 123 will not damage the edge of the disc due to theflexibility of the flexible rod 121.

In an embodiment, the second carrying portion 123 has a conical tip 123a. When the disc pick-and-place device 100 is in the third operatingstate, the conical tip 123 a of the second carrying portion 123 isinserted into the space between the first disc 11 and the second disc 12to support the second disc 12.

Then, in FIG. 2D, the driver 130 drives each picking member 120 torotate and make the disc pick-and-place device 100 enter a fourthoperating state. In the fourth operating state, the first carryingportion 122 is located at the disc releasing position, and the secondcarrying portion 123 is located at the disc holding position. That is,the first carrying portion 122 staggers with the edge of the first disc11 without overlapping, and the fourth part P4 of the second carryingportion 123 overlaps the edge of the second disc 12 and generates aholding effect. Therefore, in the fourth operating state, the first disc11 cannot lean on the first carrying portion 122 and will beunloaded/placed to complete the disc placing operation. Then, the discpick-and-place device 100 can move the clamped discs 10 to the nextcorresponding disc drive 21 to prepare for the next disc placingoperation.

In FIG. 2D, when the disc pick-and-place device 100 enters the fourthoperating state from the third operating state, the driver 130 drivesthe flexible rod 151 of the flicking member 150 to rotate to a discflicking position at which the flexible rod 151 has a wedge 152 forseparating the first disc 11 from the second disc 12. As indicated inFIGS. 10 and 2D, the width of the wedge 152 gradually increases from oneend to the other end. When one end of the wedge 152 is inserted into thespace between two adjacent discs and rotates, the gap between the twoadjacent discs increases as the width of the wedge 152 increases, sothat the disc pick-and-place device 100 can complete the disc flickingoperation.

In an embodiment, given that the gap between the discs is not sufficientor the surface of the disc does not have printed ink and the discs 10are stacked together and stored in a high temperature and high moistureenvironment over a period of time, the discs 10 will generateelectrostatic adsorption and cannot be separated. In the presentembodiment, the disc pick-and-place device 100 additionally has aflicking member 150 and uses the wedge 152 to increase the gap betweenthe discs 10 to overcome the electrostatic adsorption of the discs 10,and therefore can separate and unload the discs 10.

In the present embodiment, next time when the disc pick-and-place device100 intends to unload the discs 10, the driver 130 drives each flexiblerod 121 to rotate in an reverse direction and makes the discpick-and-place device 100 return to the second operating state from thefourth operating state (refer to FIG. 2B), and then drives each flexiblerod 121 to rotate in a forward direction and make the discpick-and-place device 100 enter the fourth operating state from thesecond operating state to complete a disc placing operation. Byrepeating the above steps, the next disc placing operation can becompleted. By the same analogy, after all of the discs 10 are unloaded,the driver 130 drives each flexible rod 121 to rotate in an reversedirection and make the disc pick-and-place device 100 return to thefirst operating state (refer to FIG. 2A). Meanwhile, the first carryingportion 122 and the second carrying portion 123 both are located at thedisc releasing positions, and the disc picking operation is performedagain.

According to the disc pick-and-place device 100 and the operating methodusing the same disclosed in above embodiments of the invention, thedriver drives multiple picking members to perform the disc pickingoperation and the disc placing operation. In comparison to theconventional design of clamping discs using a clamping structuredisposed on the center column, the disc pick-and-place device 100 of thepresent embodiment has a simplified structure, effectively and quicklyperform the disc picking operation and the disc placing operation, notonly reducing the error rate but also avoiding the discs being scratchedor damaged.

FIGS. 3A and 3B are perspective views of a disc pick-and-place device101 according to another embodiment of the invention. Refer to FIG. 3A.The disc pick-and-place device 101 includes a disc pick-and-place body111 and a quantity sensing unit 140. The disc pick-and-place body 111 isfor clamping and unloading at least one disc 10, and can be realized bythe disc pick-and-place device 100 of the above embodiments or othertypes of disc pick-and-place device. For example, the center column 112of the disc pick-and-place body 111 can be inserted into the center holeof the discs 10, and can pick up or unload the discs 10 by clamping theedge of the center hole of the discs 10 using a clamping structure (notillustrated) to perform the disc picking operation or the disc placingoperation.

Besides, the quantity sensing unit 140 is disposed on the discpick-and-place body 111 for sensing the quantity of the discs 10 clampedon the disc pick-and-place body 111. The quantity sensing unit 140includes a movable piece 141 and an optical distance measuring device145. The movable piece 141 leans on the discs 10 and moves as thequantity of the discs 10 changes. The optical distance measuring device145 is for emitting a beam L and receiving the beam L reflected from themovable piece 141 to detect the quantity of the discs 10. The opticaldistance measuring device 145 can be realized by a laser distancemeasuring device or an infrared distance measuring device, and theinvention is not limited thereto. The optical path travelled by the beamL is related to the height of the discs 10, and the quantity sensingunit 140 can obtain the quantity of the discs 10 according to the heightof the discs 10.

As indicated in FIGS. 3A and 3B, the height of the movable piece 141reduces as the quantity of the discs 10 decreases. Therefore, thequantity sensing unit 140 can calculate the height of the movable piece141 according to the reflective signal received by the optical distancemeasuring device 145 to obtain the quantity of the discs 10.Furthermore, the quantity sensing unit 140 can check whether thereduction in the height of the movable piece 141 each time a discplacing operation is completed is equivalent to the thickness of a discaccording to the reflective signal received by the optical distancemeasuring device 145 to confirm whether the disc pick-and-place body 111places one single disc in the disc placing operation.

Refer to FIG. 3A. The movable piece 141 is disposed on the center column112 which can be inserted into the center hole 100 of the disc. Thecenter column 112 has a hollowed portion. The movable piece 141 includesa movable rod 142, a supporting rod 143 and a reflective plate 144.

The movable rod 142 is disposed in the center column 112, and one end ofthe movable rod 142 is located outside the center column 112 and leanson the topmost disc of the discs 10, wherein the movable rod 142 movesas the quantity of the discs 10 changes. The supporting rod 143 isdisposed in the center column 112 and orthogonally connected to themovable rod 142. The reflective plate 144 is disposed on the supportingrod 143 for reflecting the beam L. In the present embodiment, themovable rod 142, the supporting rod 143 and the reflective plate 144 areinterconnected and form an I-shaped structure. Although the movable rod142 contacts the discs 10, the center hole by which the movable rod 142leans on the discs 10 is a disc clamping area, not a data area. Themovable rod 142 can be designed to have an arced shape or the surface ofthe movable rod 142 can be formed of a soft material, such that thediscs 10 will not be scratched when the movable rod 142 leans on thediscs 10. Even when the movable rod 142 contacts the center hole of thediscs 10, the movable rod 142 will not scratch or damage the data areaof the discs 10.

The disc pick-and-place device 101 further includes a debug unit 146.The debug unit 146 is connected to the quantity sensing unit 140 fordetermining whether the quantity of the discs clamped on the discpick-and-place device 101 is correct to control the disc picking and/orplacing operation of the disc pick-and-place device 101. In the presentembodiment, the debug unit 146 determines whether the disc pickingoperation or the disc placing operation is correct according to the discquantity provided by the quantity sensing unit 140, and the next step isbased on the above determination.

The operation steps of the disc pick-and-place device 101 are asfollows. Firstly, before the disc pick-and-place body 111 picks updiscs, the correct quantity of the discs to be picked up is set. Beforethe disc pick-and-place body 111 picks up discs, suppose the discpick-and-place device 101 intends to pick up 12 discs, that is, acorrect disc quantity is 12. Then, the disc pick-and-place body 111picks up and clamps the discs 10 on the disc pick-and-place body 111. Ifthe debug unit 146 determines that the quantity of the discs 10 clampedon the disc pick-and-place body 111 does not match the correct discquantity (for example, too many or too little discs are picked up), thedisc pick-and-place body 111 performs the disc picking operation again.If the debug unit 146 determines that the quantity of the discs clampedon the disc pick-and-place body 111 matches the correct disc quantity,the disc pick-and-place body 111 moves to a corresponding disc drive andprepares to perform the disc placing operation.

Similarly, before the disc pick-and-place device 101 places discs, thecorrect disc quantity after the discs are placed is set. Before the discpick-and-place device 101 places discs, suppose the disc pick-and-placedevice 101 intends to unload 1 disc. That is, the correct disc quantityafter one disc is placed is set as 11. After the disc pick-and-placebody 111 places 1 disc, if the debug unit 146 determines that thequantity of the discs clamped on the disc pick-and-place body 111matches the correct disc quantity, the disc pick-and-place body 111moves to another corresponding disc drive and prepares to perform thenext disc placing operation. If the debug unit 146 determines that thequantity of the discs clamped on the disc pick-and-place body 111 doesnot match the correct disc quantity (for example, too many or no discsare unloaded), the disc pick-and-place body 111 picks up the placed discand performs the disc placing operation again.

The disc pick-and-place device 101 can repeat the above steps until allof the discs 10 clamped on the disc pick-and-place body 111 areunloaded.

According to the disc pick-and-place device and the operating methodusing the same disclosed in above embodiments of the invention, thedetermination of disc quantity is based on optical distance measurement,and the determined disc quantity is used as a basis for the discpicking/placing operation and error detection. Moreover, the inventiondoes not need to reserve a space for the installation of the probe, notonly dispensing with an additional installation structure, which wouldotherwise be required when the disc quantity is determined using ahighly sensitive probe, but also avoiding the problem of disc surfacebeing scratched or damaged when directly contacted by the probe.

While the invention has been described by way of example and in terms ofthe preferred embodiment(s), it is to be understood that the inventionis not limited thereto. On the contrary, it is intended to cover variousmodifications and similar arrangements and procedures, and the scope ofthe appended claims therefore should be accorded the broadestinterpretation so as to encompass all such modifications and similararrangements and procedures.

What is claimed is:
 1. A disc pick-and-place device for picking andclamping multiple discs and unloading the multiple discs, the discpick-and-place device comprising: a supporting body; a plurality ofpicking members disposed around a support body and flexibly abutting theedges of the discs, wherein each of the picking members comprises aflexible rod, a first carrying portion and a second carrying portion,the first carrying portion and the second carrying portion are locatedon the flexible rod and separated by an interval, and partly overlapwith each other in an axial direction of the flexible rod; and a driverfor driving the flexible rods to rotate and move the first carryingportion and the second carrying portion of each of the flexible rods toa disc releasing position or a disc holding position.
 2. The discpick-and-place device according to claim 1, wherein the discpick-and-place device has a first operating state, a second operatingstate, a third operating state and a fourth operating state; in thefirst operating state, both the first carrying portion and the secondcarrying portion are located at the disc releasing positions; in thesecond operating state, the first carrying portion is located at thedisc holding position, and the second carrying portion is located at thedisc releasing position; in the third operating state, both the firstcarrying portion and the second carrying portion are located at the discholding positions; in the fourth operating state, the first carryingportion is located at the disc releasing position, and the secondcarrying portion is located at the disc holding position.
 3. The discpick-and-place device according to claim 2, wherein a position of thefirst carrying portion corresponds to the underneath of a first disc ofthe clamped discs in a bottom-up manner, and a position of the secondcarrying portion corresponds to a position between the first disc andthe second disc of the clamped discs in a bottom-up manner orcorresponds to a position of the second disc.
 4. The disc pick-and-placedevice according to claim 3, wherein the second carrying portion has aconical tip, and when the disc pick-and-place device is in the thirdoperating state, the conical tip abuts between the first disc and thesecond disc of the clamped discs in a bottom-up manner.
 5. The discpick-and-place device according to claim 3, further comprising aflexible flicking rod disposed on the supporting body and adjacent tothe edges of the discs, wherein when the disc pick-and-place deviceenters the fourth operating state from the third operating state, thedriver drives the flexible flicking rod to rotate to a disc flickingposition at which the flexible flicking rod has a wedge for separatingthe first disc from the second disc of the clamped discs in a bottom-upmanner.
 6. The disc pick-and-place device according to claim 2, whereinthe driver comprises a motor, a center gear and a plurality of drivengears, the center gear and the driven gears are disposed on thesupporting body and engaged with each other, and the motor drives thecenter gear and the driven gears to rotate and makes the discpick-and-place device switch among the first operating state, the secondoperating state, the third operating state and the fourth operatingstate.
 7. The disc pick-and-place device according to claim 6, whereineach of the flexible rods is fixedly connected to one of the drivengears and is extended parallel to the edges of the discs.
 8. The discpick-and-place device according to claim 1, wherein each of the flexiblerods has at least one first groove formed thereon and extended to afirst plane parallel to a force receiving direction of the flexible rod.9. The disc pick-and-place device according to claim 8, wherein each offlexible rods has at least one second groove formed thereon and extendedto a second plane parallel to and not coplanar with the first plane.